Sunday, April 19, 2009

The Apollo Alliance, a coalition of labor and environmental groups, is launching a media blitz aimed at promoting passage of legislation its members hope will boost domestic renewable energy and create 'green' jobs and services... The alliance, whose endorsers include the Sierra Club and AFL-CIO, is lobbying Congress to include language in either a climate or energy bill this session that provides loans and grants to U.S. manufacturing companies to 'retool' their factories to make everything from wind turbines for the prairie to insulated glass for buildings.

The 'Apollo Green Manufacturing Plan' that the group released yesterday also calls for tying federal support to manufacturers' ability to meet labor's and 'Made in America' content standards. The plan also calls for a presidential 'clean energy manufacturing' task force and federal support to streamline clean-energy component supply chains...

The Apollo Alliance does not suggest a dollar amount nor a jobs target in its plan. But Gordon estimated that the 'Green Jobs and Infrastructure Act,' introduced by Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) in January, would create 1 million direct manufacturing and indirect jobs via $50 billion in loan guarantees.

The Stabenow-Brown bill has not gained traction on Capitol Hill, Gordon conceded, so she would like to see similar language added to a climate or energy bill. The Blue Green Alliance, which helped craft the Apollo Alliance's plan, is also taking to the airwaves in support of a greenhouse gas emissions cap-and-trade bill.

The National Jobs for All Coalition is committed to building a new movement for full employment at livable wages. The Drive for Decent Work blog highlights ways to create jobs by increasing public investment in needed infrastructure and public services.